Gunnar Thorvaldson

Gunnar Solmunder (Solly) Thorvaldson, QC (March 18, 1901 in Riverton, Manitoba – August 2, 1969) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1941 to 1949, and in the Canadian Senate from 1958 until his death. Originally elected as a Conservative, he sat as a Progressive Conservative after the party changed its name in 1943.

Thorvaldson was born to a notable Icelandic Canadian family in Manitoba. His father, Sveinn Thorvaldson, was also a Conservative member of the Assembly from 1914 to 1915.

His nephew Scott Thorkelson served in the Canadian House of Commons.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1922 and a law degree from the Manitoba Law School in 1925. He worked as a barrister. Thorvaldson was also president of the Income Tax Payer's Association from 1944 to 1946, and was a member of the Manitoba Club, the Empire Club and the Optimist Club. In 1926, he married Edna Schwitzer, daughter of John Edward Schwitzer.

He ran for the Manitoba legislature in the constituency of Gimli in the 1932 provincial election, but finished third against Liberal Einar Jonasson.

Thorvaldson ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1935 federal election as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada. He lost, finishing a distant second against Liberal-Progressive candidate Joseph T. Thorson in the riding of Selkirk.

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